Starbucks plans to open three more Evolution juice bars

Starbucks (SBUX) announced on Friday that it plans to open three more Evolution Fresh juice bars after opening the first one in March this year.

Starbucks bought Evolution Fresh for $30 million at the end of last year and opened its first Evolution Fresh juice bar in Bellevue, Washington, on March 19. The company said a second juice bar will open in downtown Seattle on Friday and plans to open two more in Seattle and San Francisco this fall.

Starbucks also said it plans to expand the distribution of its bottled Evolution ready-to-drink juice in supermarkets and other stores to take advantage of the fast-growing high-end juice market.

The ready-to-drink high-end juice market has always been a bright spot in the American beverage market. According to the beverage industry magazine Beverage Digest, sales of high-end juices in the United States rose 25% in the second quarter of this year. Sales of brands such as Naked Bolthouse, Naked and Odwalla all increased significantly.

In the face of increasing competition from rivals such as Weibo (MCD) and DNKN, Starbucks is aggressively expanding beyond coffee shops. The company announced last month that it plans to open its first Tazo teahouse near its Seattle headquarters this autumn, which will serve more than 80 tea drinks, packaged chocolates, as well as sugar and honey for making tea.

In addition, the company last month acquired La Boulange, a San Francisco-based bakery chain, and will replace the bread and pastries currently sold at Starbucks with its products. Starbucks said it plans to turn the baking brand into a national chain in the future.